He entered into a boat,
and crossed over, and came into his own city. Behold, they brought to him a man
who was paralyzed, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the
paralytic, "Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven
you."Behold, some of the
scribes said to themselves, "This man blasphemes."
Jesus, knowing their
thoughts, said, "Why do you think evil in your
hearts? For which is
easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven;' or to say, 'Get up, and walk?'
But that you may know that
the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins..."
(then he said to the paralytic), "Get up, and take up
your mat, and go up to your house."He arose and departed
to his house. But when the
multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such
authority to men.

As Jesus passed by from
there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office.
He said to him, "Follow me." He got up
and followed him. It
happened as he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners
came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw it, they
said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors
and sinners?"
When Jesus heard it,
he said to them, "Those who are healthy have no need
for a physician, but those who are sick do. But you go and learn what this
means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' for I came not to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Then John's disciples
came to him, saying, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but
your disciples don't fast?"
Jesus said to them,
"Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as
the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom
will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk
cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment,
and a worse hole is made. Neither do people put new wine
into old wineskins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be
spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wineskins,
and both are preserved."

A Dead Girl and a Sick Woman

While he told these
things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped him, saying, "My
daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will
live."
Jesus got up and
followed him, as did his disciples. Behold, a woman who had an issue
of blood for twelve years came behind him, and touched the tassels of his
garment; for she said
within herself, "If I just touch his garment, I will be made
well."
But Jesus, turning
around and seeing her, said, "Daughter, cheer up!
Your faith has made you well." And the woman was made well
from that hour.
When Jesus came into
the ruler's house, and saw the flute players, and the crowd in noisy
disorder, he said to
them, "Make room, because the girl isn't dead, but
sleeping."They were ridiculing him. But when the crowd was put out,
he entered in, took her by the hand, and the girl arose. The report of this went out into
all that land.

As Jesus
passed by from there, two blind men followed him, calling out and saying,
"Have mercy on us, son of David!"
When he had come into
the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus said to them, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?"They told him, "Yes, Lord."
Then he touched their
eyes, saying, "According to your faith be it done to
you." Their
eyes were opened. Jesus strictly charged them, saying, "See that no one knows about this." But they went out and spread
abroad his fame in all that land.
As they went out,
behold, a mute man who was demon possessed was brought to him. When the demon was cast out, the
mute man spoke. The multitudes marveled, saying, "Nothing like this
has ever been seen in Israel!"
But the Pharisees
said, "By the prince of the demons, he casts out demons."

The Workers Are Few

Jesus went about all
the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
the Good News of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness
among the people. But
when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion for them, because
they were harassed and scattered, like sheep without a
shepherd. Then he said to
his disciples, "The harvest indeed is plentiful, but
the laborers are few. Pray therefore that the Lord of
the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest."